The registration for the Fall 2015 Youth Academy is now open. The youth academy is open to all children ages 3 to 8.

The cost for the fall academy is $175. The youth academy is tentatively scheduled to be Wednesday evenings at Livonia Bicentennial Park and Saturday mornings at Total Soccer Farmington. The Wednesday evening session will be instructional (technical training) and the Saturday morning session will be a small sided game format. The youth academy will start on September 9th and end on October 24th.

The times for each of the sessions are still being finalized. The groups will be broken down into two time slots. I will send out more information on times when those are confirmed.

This year, the club is able to offer the fall registration payment by credit card or by Echeck. Please use the registration link below to sign up your child for the fall youth academy and make payment.

CHICAGO (July 20, 2015) – The U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team will hold a training camp from July 22-29 as head coach Michelle French has called up 24 players that will come to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.

This age group is focusing on qualifying for the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Papua New Guinea. The tournament has an age cut-off of players born on or after Jan. 1, 1996, and the birth years for players in this camp range from 1996 to 1999. The CONCACAF qualifying tournament is scheduled for the end of 2015.

ECNL Seattle has come and gone, leaving in its wake a ton of massive performances to remember.

For the U14 and U18 teams, that meant group stage and then knockout rounds to etch their legend in the stone. This is TopDrawerSoccer.com’s comprehensive U14/U18 Best XI from ECNL Seattle based on players our correspondents saw play over the course of six action-packed game days.

M Courtney Petersen, Michigan Hawks U18: One of the Hawks’ most dangerous situations was on short corners, where Peterson would receive the ball near the corner of the penalty area and decide whether to shoot or cross (or hit a ball that could be either, depending on the outcome). Beyond that, she could also hit dangerous crosses through the run of play and finish chances.

F Maya Piper, Michigan Hawks U18: Depending on the situation, Piper could either be described as an attacking midfielder or shadow striker—a classic trequartista with the ability to score goals and create them for others. She excelled at dropping into the space between lines and being generally impossible to mark.

2015 ECNL National Finals: U15 Best XI

Last week, the ECNL crowned its national champions in Richmond for the U15 through U17 age groups, as the 2014-15 season officially came to a close. Below is a look at the U15 Best XI as seen by TopDrawerSoccer over the course of the week.

D Samantha Kleedtke, Michigan Hawks: The Hawks back line protected a one-goal lead in all three of its group wins and Kleedtke was as impressive as ever in her four outings, despite coming up short in the championship game. Kleedtke is both a defensive menace and good enough to play the ball out from the back, one of the most comfortable defenders in possession on display at this age group.

M Emaly Vatne, Michigan Hawks: Fearless on and off the ball, Vatne was usually one of the shortest players on the field but made up for it with her dynamic runs and willingness to challenge defenders while in possession.

F Alexa Spaanstra, Michigan Hawks: The U.S. U17 WNT forward and Virginia commit is a tremendous talent, and was one of the best players on display in Richmond. Her ability to both score and create was notable against teams that certainly paid a lot of attention to her every time on the field.

CHICAGO (July 20, 2015) - With the 2014-15 season coming to a close this past Saturday, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy has named its conference award winners for Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. Additional accolades include a Starting XI for each conference at each age group, as well as team awards and best administrator awards.

While they didn't need to win today to advance to the ECNL U15 National Final, the U15 Hawks beat the Colorado Storm today 2-1. The final will be at 12:30 pm tomorrow, July 18th. They will play against So Cal Blues. Here is the link for the livestream.

Go Hawks!!

The Michigan Wolves-Hawks Soccer Club is pleased to announce that Friday Technical Training will start on August 21st and is free of charge for all Wolves-Hawks players. All Wolves-Hawks players are invited to attend Technical Training at Jaycee Park in Livonia for the appropriate age group:

RICHMOND, Va. — Day one of the ECNL National Finals kicked off on Tuesday as 24 teams in the U15 through U17 age groups eyed up a run at a national championship.

After playing a scoreless first half that turned into a quagmire when a rain shower rolled through Tuesday morning, the Michigan Hawks broke through against Solar Chelsea and capture their tournament opener, 2-1. Forward Alexa Spaanstra and defender Samantha Kleedtke scored to stake a 2-0 second half lead, and the Hawks defense held off a Solar Chelsea charge that featured a goal from Mackenzie McFarland.

Spaanstra’s goal came early in the second half when midfielder Emaly Vatne launched a cross to the right post and Spaanstra redirected it slightly on a header. Kleedtke doubled the Hawks’s lead by knocking in the ball during a scrum in front of the net after a free kick.

Hawks goalkeeper Alexandra DeRuvo was strong and stopped a few breakaways and forced Solar Chelsea into a number of bad shots. She also got some help when McFarland hit the crossbar early in the game.

The Hawks take on D’Feeters Soccer Club, which played a scoreless draw against Colorado Storm, on Wednesday.

Teams took another step closer to clinching spots in the championship game on Day Two of the ECNL National Finals.

The Hawks took a step closer to a first place group finish, holding on to a narrow 2-1 victory against a tough and tenacious D’Feeters side.

Midfielder Emaly Vatne’s brave, sliding finish from an Alexa Spaanstra cross nudged the Hawks out in front during a strong first half display. The D’Feeters defense worked well to disrupt the Hawks attackers aside from that moment, and the Texas side looked to midfielder Taylor Moon and forward Elena Reyna to tie the game.

But Spaanstra struck again early in the second half, this time scoring a goal of her own. A clearance fell to Madison McBurnett who popped the ball up into the box to Spaanstra, who struck a half-volley into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Reyna pulled a goal back for the D’Feeters to setup a frentic finish, as a direct ball into the box was redirected over Hawks goalkeeper Alexandra DeRuvo into Reyna's path for a simple tap in. It was a just reward for the hard-working forward who troubled the Hawks all game long.

D’Feeters kept the pressure on in search of an equalizer, but the Hawks defense held firm, as center backs Samantha Kleedtke and Diane Senkowski held firm to the final whistle. The Hawks face Colorado Storm in Friday’s action at 12:30PM.

Below is a look at some of the players who turned in notable performances from the second day of play.

GK Alexandra DeRuvo, Michigan Hawks U15: Showed well in a 2-1 victory against D’Feeters. Never had to make a spectacular save, but DeRuvo read the game well, knowing when to come off her line and intervene at the top of the box. Her distribution was excellent too, whether passing it out of the back of finding players further up field.

M Emaly Vatne, Michigan Hawks U15: A relentless flank player for the Hawks’ quality U15 side, Vatne opened the scoring in Wednesday’s action with a brave sliding finish, and was a thorn in the side for the D’Feeters defense all day long.

Go Hawks!

REDMOND, Washington — The Michigan Hawks U18 side had plenty of motivation burning in its furnace headed into the ECNL Playoffs here this week. Much of it stemmed from last season.

While the Hawks’ U14 side was busy winning a national title in Seattle in 2014, the Hawks U17 side was handed a difficult draw and couldn’t advance out of its group to make the next month’s final grouping. For a team this talented, it was a bitter pill and a tough way to end the season.

But there was another season left in the core of that U17 team. And as U18s, they made good on their desire to go out on the highest note possible.

The Hawks put in a masterclass defensive display, and a pair of headed goals on either side of the half sent them off to a 2-0 victory over West Coast FC on the last of six straight days of soccer at Sixty Acres Park. For the U14s and U18s, Tuesday represented the end of the road for the 2014-15 season. While the winners of U15, U16 and U17 groups here will move on to the ECNL Finals in Richmond, Virginia later this month, Tuesday was do-day for four sides caught in finals.

As for the Hawks, their performance was vindication for a week spent playing at a breakneck pace. The Hawks were a rolling pin in the group stage with seven points from nine matches, and a 2-1 win in the semis over a Crossfire team that had knocked out the No. 1 Dallas Sting was impressive. But this was the crowning achievement. West Coast FC actively attempted to play out of the back and through the talented Christina Settles, but it was no use. The Hawks were swarming.

They opened the scoring about 15 minutes into the match on a headed goal from Maya Piper, and they got the clincher about 10 minutes into the second half on another header from Brenna Lovera, this time off a corner. Those two, Lovera up top and Piper off her back as a second striker in attack, caused so many problems that the WCFC back line couldn’t deal with aerially. Two moments of magic ultimately proved that in spades.

The U18 Hawks '97 team won the ECNL Champions League National Final match 2:0. Congratulations to Doug Landefeld and his fantastic team on their win. Maya Piper scored an early goal off a cross by Courtney Peterson and then at the 49 minute mark Alexis Warner sent in a cross to Maya Piper for the second goal of the match. Bethany Kopel played well in goal and with the strong defense line the West Coast were held to no goals against.

Congratulations on winning the 12th star for the Michigan Wolves-Hawks Soccer Club!